Folio: Wire | 7.27.07

Magazine Launch Announcements Up Nearly 10 PercentMore than 150 announcements of new or yet-to-be-published magazines were identified over the first half of 2007, according to research conducted by the Magazine Publishers of America.

The total so far represents a 7-percent increase over launch announcements during the same period last year, the MPA says. Forty-eight announcements were tracked during the second quarter this year, up 14 percent over the second quarter of 2006.

Of the new titles announced, 30 are to serve affluent readers, 21 have sports/recreation-related content and 10 are marketed to children and teens, says the MPA.

Five Star Alliance’s online booking search engine features a collection of more than 1,300 luxury hotel properties and receives 3 to 4 million views and 400,000 visitors per month, the company says in a statement. The site provides visitors with recommendations about the properties, which are listed by invitation only.

"The index is the first global index of its kind," CurtCo Media senior vice president David Arnold says in a statement. CurtCo owns the Robb Report and a number of other magazine titles for high net worth consumers.

To qualify as "luxury," equities included in the index must trade on a major U.S. or global market exchange, and must have a market capitalization at or more than $500 million, according to the statement.

BNP Media Launches "Green" Facility MagazineBNP Media announced that Sustainable Facility, a new magazine from the editors and publishers of Environmental Design + Construction and Sustainable Home magazines, will debut in October.

Sustainable Facility will be published twice in 2007 and seven times in 2008, the company says in a statement. It will feature content for professionals working in the "green" facility community and oversee commercial, institutional, industrial and government facilities. Some topics will include: alternative energy, water conservation, green-focused repair/replace/remodeling and indoor air quality.

Sustainable Facility was developed by the editors of BNP Media magazine Energy & Power Management, and will absorb its energy conservation and building automation components. The magazine’s initial circulation includes more than 30,000 BPA-audited subscribers, the company says in the statement.

The second issue, to be called the "Sustainable Facility Green Book," is scheduled for December and feature expansive buyers guide/product directory content, the statement says.

Three Luxury Publishing Companies Finalize PartnershipControlled circulation publishers Greenspun Media Group, Niche Media Holdings and Ocean Drive Media Group have finalized an agreement that will effectively unify the operations of their publications.

The new entity, the companies say, will have a combined distribution of 750,000 and will reach 4.4 million readers, averaging 5.9 readers per copy. The united company will host more than 500 events, produce more than 24,000 pages each year and employ more than 300 full-time staffers. The agreement also gives marketers a more direct connection to the 16 regions the groups represent, the companies say.

The terms of the agreement were first announced last month. Only the luxury magazines from each company will be included in the merger. Separate Web properties, custom publishing projects, newspapers and TV stations are not included in the deal.

PlattForm Holdings Acquires Recruitment and Lead Generation CompanyMarketing, advertising and public relations firm PlattForm Holdings has acquired Beauty Schools Directory, a beauty school industry recruitment and lead generation company.

Specializing in enrollment solutions for the higher education industry and the U.S. Military, PlattForm Holdings was represented by media investment bankers DeSilva + Phillips during the transaction.

"Beauty School[s] Directory’s powerful lead generation engine and its deep relationships with beauty education programs throughout North America is a perfect hit with PlattForm’s enrollment marketing solutions for non-profit and for-profit academic and technical education programs," DeSilva + Phillips partner Jay MacDonald says in a statement.

Financial details of the transaction were not available.

Bicycling Magazine Event to Help Improve Healthcare in AfricaRodale Inc.’s Bicycling magazine and Kona Bicycling have announced a partnership in sponsoring the second annual BikeTown Africa event.

The event, which is an expansion of Bicycling’s BikeTown USA program, was created to help healthcare workers with delivery of home health aids and services in Africa’s remote and rural areas. Next week, the people who put on BikeTown will distribute 150 bicycles to HIV/AIDS workers in Namibia. This fall, 175 bicycles will be distributed in Senegal.

"These bikes are more than just a means of transportation; they are vehicles for saving lives," says Bicycling editor-in-chief Steve Madden. The bicycles have been custom-designed, constructed and donated by Kona Bicycling.